NAACP: Voter ID laws a reaction to minority participation

The National Associated for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) said Monday that an increase in minority voting is the reason Republicans around the nation are pushing for tougher voter identification laws.

“It’s been more than a century since we’ve seen such a tidal wave of assaults on the right to vote,” said NAACP President and CEO Ben Jealous. “Historically, when voting rights are attacked, it’s done to facilitate attacks on other rights. It is no mistake that the groups who are behind this are simultaneously attacking very basic women’s rights, environmental protections, labor rights, and educational access for working people and minorities.”

The NAACP noted that 11 percent of Americans do not have a government-issued identification. Among African-Americans, 25 percent do not have the documents required to vote, they found. For Latinos, the NAACP said that 16 percent lack proper identification.

The NAACP report also highlighted a Brennan Center of Justice study that 14 states, mostly Republican led, have enacted 25 restrictive voting measures, including eight states that now require a photo ID to vote.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) released their own report on tougher voter ID laws, along with a website “Protecting the Vote.” Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, chair of the Democratic National Committee, called the new laws “a full-scale assault” on voting rights.

“These restrictive measures have one thing in common: They make it harder to vote, specifically for minority voters,” she said in a released statement. “Democrats will not sit idly by while the Republican Party attempts to infringe on the rights of American voters.”

About the Author

Andrew Jones is a staff writer/reporter for Raw Story. Besides covering politics, he is also a freelance sports journalist, as well as a slam poetry and music artist. You can follow him on Twitter @sluggahjells.